More than 400,000 homes and businesses in Maine and New Hampshire were without power early Friday as a late season nor’easter brought heavy snow and strong winds to parts of the Northeast.
The NOAA released its annual predictions for snowfall across the United States, showing that a moderate-to-strong El Niño winter could lead to less snow across the north.
Snowfall during moderate-to-strong El Niño winters (January-March) compared to the 1991-2020 average (after the long-term trend has been removed). Blue colors show more snow than average; brown shows less snow than average. NOAA Climate.gov map, based on ERA5 data from 1959-2023 analyzed by Michelle LHeureux. (NOAA Climate.gov)
You may need to keep your coat and umbrella on standby this week, but looking into the coming months, a warmer and dryer winter is potentially on the horizon.
The Pittsburgh region will see some chilly and rainy days with a slightly warmer weekend, but a climate phenomenon could mean an overall milder winter in the city, said Rich Redmond, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Moon.
Another system bringing cold air is moving south into the overnight Monday into Tuesday and will last through at least Wednesday, he said.
That front will likely bring the coldest air the Pittsburgh region has seen so far this fall, prompting a freeze warning for the area from midnight Monday through 10 a.m. Tuesday. Frost and freeze conditions could kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing, NWS said.
It will be wise to bundle up Halloween night for trick-or-treating. Tuesday will see a high near 45 degrees, with the evening temperatures hovering around 40.
A spate of high-altitude objects have been shot down in North American airspace in recent days.
A balloon was downed off the coast of South Carolina on 4 February after hovering for days over the US. Officials said it originated in China and had been used to monitor sensitive sites.
China denied the object was used for spying and said it was a weather monitoring device that had blown astray. The incident – and the angry exchanges in its aftermath – ratcheted up tensions between Washington and Beijing.
But on Sunday, a defence official said the US had communicated with Beijing about the first object, after receiving no response for several days. It was not immediately clear what was discussed.
Since that first incident, American fighter jets have shot down three further high-altitude objects in as many days.
A five-year-old boy was also killed in Georgia when a tree struck the car he was traveling in.
At least six people are dead in Alabama after tornadoes struck the state Thursday, destroying homes and causing what Selma’s mayor called “significant damage.” A five-year-old boy was also killed in Georgia when a tree struck the car he was traveling in.
The Alabama deaths were in Autauga County, northwest of Montgomery, county Emergency Management Agency Director Ernie Baggett said.
He said a tornado struck the communities of Old Kingston and Marbury, with a suspected path of around 20 miles.
I want everyone who is dealing with the problems we’ve been facing, whether you haven’t been able to get to where you need to go or you’re one of our heroic Employees caught up in a massive effort to stabilize the airline, to know is that we’re doing everything we can to return to a normal operation.
And please also hear that I’m truly sorry.
Here’s why this giant puzzle is taking us several days to solve. Southwest is the largest carrier in the country, not only because of our value and our values, but because we build our flight schedule around communities, not hubs. So, we’re the largest airline in 23 of the top 25 travel markets in the U.S.
Cities where large numbers of scheduled flights simultaneously froze as record bitter cold brought challenges for all airlines.
Our network is highly complex and the operation of the airline counts on all the pieces, especially aircraft and crews remaining in motion to where they’re planned to go. With our large fleet of airplanes and flight crews out of position in dozens of locations. And after days of trying to operate as much of our full schedule across the busy holiday weekend, we reached a decision point to significantly reduce our flying to catch up.
We’re focused on safely getting all of the pieces back into position to end this rolling struggle. You know, I have nothing but pride and respect for the efforts of the people of Southwest who are showing up in every way. The tools we use to recover from disruption serve us well, 99 percent of the time; but clearly, we need to double down on our already existing plans to upgrade systems for these extreme circumstances so that we never again face what’s happening right now.
I’m apologizing to them daily and they’ll be hearing more about our specific plans to ensure the challenges that they’ve faced the past few days will not be part of our future.
I reached out to Secretary Buttigieg earlier today to continue the discussions we’ve been having with the DOT through the holiday – sharing all the things that we’re doing to make things right for our Customers.
We always take care of our Customers. And we will lean in and go above and beyond as they would expect us to. Teams are working on all of that: processing refunds, proactively reaching out and taking care of Customers who are dealing with costly detours and reroutes, as just a few examples. Our plan for the next few days is to fly a reduced schedule and reposition our people and planes, and we’re making headway and we’re optimistic to be back on track before next week.
We have some real work to do in making this right. For now, I want you to know that we’re committed to that.
As a massive winter storm continues to blast much of the US with brutal winter weather — leading to at least 37 deaths nationwide — parts of western New York have been buried by up to 43 inches of snow, leaving vehicles stuck and power out for thousands during the Christmas weekend.
An effort led by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to maintain Title 42 is threatening efforts to pass a sweeping government funding bill before a shutdown deadline later this week.
Congressional negotiators on both sides say the biggest holdup is ongoing negotiations to decide what the voting threshold would be to pass the amendment.
The 2022 midterm elections are shaping up to be some of the most consequential in the nation’s history, with control of Congress at stake.
All 435 seats in the House and 35 of 100 seats in the Senate are on the ballot, as well as several influential gubernatorial elections in battleground states like Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Democrats are defending their narrow majorities in both chambers. Republican control of either the House or Senate would be enough to curtail most of President Joe Biden’s agenda, and would likely result in investigations against his administration and even his family.
The spacecraft NASA deliberately crashed into an asteroid last month succeeded in nudging the rocky moonlet from its natural path into a faster orbit, marking the first time humanity has altered the motion of a celestial body, the U.S. space agency announced on Tuesday.
Locals share their coming out stories for National Coming Out Day.
The first National Coming Out Day was in 1988, celebrating the anniversary of the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Advocates Rob Eichberg and Jean O’Leary first proposed the idea of National Coming Out Day. It was their belief that illustrating to most people that they already knew and respected someone in the LGBTQ+ community helped push the human rights movement forward.
The experience of coming out is personal and unique to each individual. We asked a handful people to share their experiences of coming out — the good and the bad — and why this day is important. Here are their stories.
‘It wasn’t my choice, but I’m glad it happened’
Claudia
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My coming out story happened when I was a teenager. I was scared to come out because I didn’t know how my parents would take it. We can kind of say my coming out wasn’t really planned, it hurt and it wasn’t my choice but I’m glad it happened. I’m 24 years old and ever since the day I came out, I made it my duty to be fully out and proud about it. I am very blessed to have never dealt with any rejection from my loved ones due to the fact that I’m a lesbian, and even though it was hard for my parents to accept, my mom has always defended me and my family has always loved me the way that I am. Coming from a religious household made me have the whole “Catholic guilt” mentality and I tried “praying the gay away” thing, which I find pretty funny, considering the fact that I’m a lesbian atheist that practices witchcraft now. My friends are all gay so everyone was very supportive (yet not surprised, the closet was made out of glass) and I’ve been very blessed! I started college and I became the president of the Gay-Straight Alliance, I started working with my community to build a better future for LGBTQ+ individuals and I’ve met many wonderful people throughout the years. I hope to inspire many young members of the LGBTQ+ community to live life loud and proud, and if you can’t do that just now, know that there is a community out there that will love and accept you for who you are, even in moments where you can only be yourself behind closed doors. Happy coming out day from your local they/them lesbian!
Hurricane Ian is expected to make landfall in Florida in the next few hours, with wind speeds of up to 155mph meaning the storm is nearing the most dangerous Category 5 status.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Ian was expected to cause “life-threatening” storm surges, catastrophic winds and flooding on Florida’s southwest coast.
(CNN)President Joe Biden plans to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, a person familiar with the matter said, as the US warns Russia could attack Ukraine using bombs and missiles at any moment.
The high-stakes talks come at what US officials describe as a critical juncture in the ongoing crisis. A significant increase of Russian ground forces and military assets have surrounded Ukraine, and Putin could decide at any moment to activate them into a deadly invasion.
He hasn’t decided whether to act, the White House said Friday. But that has not stopped American officials from dramatically increasing their warnings an attack is now a “distinct possibility” and could occur swiftly.
An important thing to remember is that the main energy of this system is still out in the Pacific Ocean.
When the energy is out that far, there are things we can see, but there are many that we can’t. Once this “low” comes on the shore, we will have the opportunity to gather a lot more data from weather balloons and surface instruments.
This will allow us to tighten up the projected path and have a better idea of how this will impact the Pittsburgh area.
Gov. Andy Beshear said dozens, maybe up to 100, were killed in western Kentucky after a long and significant tornado ripped through the area overnight.
“This is going to be some of the worst tornado damage that we’ve seen in a long time,” Beshear said early Saturday. “This is likely to be the most severe tornado outbreak in our state’s history.”
The city of Mayfield, Kentucky was hit particularly hard, including a candle manufacturing factory that was operating at the time the twister hit. There were 110 people in the building at the time that it was nearly collapsed by the tornado. Dozens are expected to be lost from there, Beshear said.
The U.S. will release 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an effort to combat climbing gas prices.
The U.S. will release 50 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the White House said Tuesday.
The move is a coordinated effort between energy-consuming nations including China and Japan to combat the rapid rise in energy prices.
Prior to Tuesday’s announcement the Biden administration repeatedly said that it was looking at the tools at its disposal as prices at the pump hover around a seven-year high.
A Black Lives Matter leader vowed there’ll be “riots,” “fire” and “bloodshed” if Mayor-elect Eric Adams follows through with his promise to bring back plainclothes anti-crime cops to battle New York’s surge in violent crimes.
New York BLM co-founder Hawk Newsome debated the plan for a return to tougher policing with Adams during a contentious sit-down at Brooklyn Borough Hall Wednesday that was livestreamed on Instagram.
Although Adams found common ground with the activists on plans to fight poverty in the black community, the former NYPD captain said he’ll be reinstating a revamped version of the undercover anti-crime unit that was disbanded at the height of widespread police protests last year.
“If they think they are going back to the old ways of policing then we’re going to take to the streets again,” New York BLM co-founder Hawk Newsome said outside Borough Hall after the meeting.
A car struck two cops and three Golden Gate Bridge workers as authorities tried to corral an anti-COVID vaccine protest at the famous San Francisco span Thursday evening.
The two CHP officers and one bridge worker were taken to a hospital, where they were expected to survive their injuries, the newspaper reported.
“They were gathered at the sidewalk entrance onto the Golden Gate Bridge, and apparently there were individuals in the crowd that had stated their intent was to take over the lane of traffic, so our intention at that point was to serve as a deterrent to try to prevent anybody from getting on,” CHP Officer Andrew Barclay reportedly said.
The mother of Kyle Rittenhouse claimed President Joe Biden “defamed” her son when he tweeted a video suggesting the Illinois teen is a white supremacist.
Moms for Liberty, a parental rights advocacy group focused on education, is grabbing national headlines as it rapidly expands throughout the U.S.
The Washington Post dedicated 2,000 words to the group in a piece which likened them to the Tea Party and the “moral majority” movement of the 1980s.
The COVID-19 pandemic shutdown of schools drove education to the forefront of political debates in 2020. Ongoing controversy surrounding vaccines and mask mandates, racial and sexual materials in school curriculum and transgender student policies has prompted concerned parents to organize and get involved in local and state politics.
“Parents are finding racially divisive, sexually explicit, and anti-American assignments in their children’s backpacks. Moms for Liberty chapters work to resolve concerns, review curriculum and request changes in their school districts,” Tina Descovich, co-founder of Moms for Liberty and former school board member, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Moms for Liberty, founded in January, has quickly grown to 140 chapters in 32 states with 56,000 members, according to Descovich.
Christian Ziegler, vice chairman of the Florida Republican Party, told the DCNF that school board fights have awakened an entirely new demographic of voters, and Moms for Liberty is engaging them. Whether Democrat, Republican or Independent, parents are realizing that the government has tremendous power over their lives and that they need to be involved, he explained.
“They’re being painted as extremists because they pose a threat to the status quo,” Ziegler said. “Moms for Liberty is getting parents involved in their children’s education, and that should be applauded.”
A federal court in Louisiana has blocked the Biden administration’s mandate that millions of workers get vaccinated against Covid-19 or be tested weekly, ruling in a suit filed by several states, companies and conservative religious groups.
“Because the petitions give cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the Mandate, the Mandate is hereby STAYED pending further action by this court,” a panel of judges for the New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Saturday.
The states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Utah are among the plaintiffs.
WASHINGTON — Haitians deported from the U.S. on Tuesday assaulted the pilots on board one of the flights when it arrived in Port-au-Prince and injured three U.S. immigration officers, according to a source familiar with internal reports of the incident.
Unrest broke out shortly after a flight carrying single adult men arrived and released the men to Haitian authorities on the airport tarmac. Then, according to the source, several of the men stormed another recently arrived flight carrying families.
The men assaulted the pilots of that plane, who work for a government contractor licensed to fly deportation flights for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while the families were still on board. Three ICE officers were also attacked on that airplane, each suffering non-life-threatening injuries, the source said.
The attacks come as the United States ramps up its deportations of Haitians after more than 15,000 overwhelmed the U.S. border by congregating under one bridge in Del Rio, Texas in just a matter of days. As of Tuesday, just over 1,000 of the Haitian migrants had been deported to Haiti, according to two sources familiar with the operations.
A total of 4,000 have been either deported or moved to other processing centers along the border, the Department of Homeland Security said.
WASHINGTON — United States Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said Friday that there has been “chatter” about possible violence associated with the rally planned by far-right protesters outside the Capitol building Saturday.
For the second time in California history, the state’s governor is facing a recall. On Tuesday, voters will decide whether Gov. Gavin Newsom will stay in office. If a majority votes “yes” to oust him, California will have a new governor.
There are 46 candidates on the ballot, including radio talk show host Larry Elder, former San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer, and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner. The special election was triggered after more than 1.5 million people signed the recall petition, which began circulating last year during the pandemic.
Opponents of Gov. Newsom have criticized his administration’s COVID-19 restrictions and made that a focal point of the recall. If he is recalled, Newsom would be the third governor in U.S. history to be removed from office in this manner.
This has happened before in California. In 2003, voters recalled Democratic Gov. Gray Davis. Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger won the special election and became the 38th governor of California. Schwarzenegger went on to win reelection in 2006, making him the last Republican to win a statewide election.
Californians will vote on two questions: Should Newsom be removed and if so, who should replace him? About 22 million ballots have gone out to registered voters. If a majority votes to remove Newsom, whichever candidate captures the most votes will become the next governor of California.
Former President Trump made a surprise visit with New York City police and firefighters Saturday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks.
In remarks to assembled guests, the former president sharply rebuked President Biden and the US pullout from Afghanistan.
“It was gross incompetence and I hate to talk about it on this day,” Trump said.
Trump praised New York’s Finest, telling the crowd, “if they let you do your job you wouldn’t have crime in New York!”
As some in the crowd nodded their heads, The Donald jokingly warned them to “just stand and just be perfect.”
(CNN)President Joe Biden plans to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, a person familiar with the matter said, as the US warns Russia could attack Ukraine using bombs and missiles at any moment.
The high-stakes talks come at what US officials describe as a critical juncture in the ongoing crisis. A significant increase of Russian ground forces and military assets have surrounded Ukraine, and Putin could decide at any moment to activate them into a deadly invasion.He hasn’t decided whether to act, the White House said Friday. But that has not stopped American officials from dramatically increasing their warnings an attack is now a “distinct possibility” and could occur swiftly.
REST IN PEACE ? Among the victims is a 9-year-old boy who had been on a ventilator after he fell and was trampled during the Travis Scott concert.
A federal court in Louisiana has blocked the Biden administration’s mandate that millions of workers get vaccinated against Covid-19 or be tested weekly, ruling in a suit filed by several states, companies and conservative religious groups.
